A Shire spokeswoman said Pervasis deal is valued in the “single-digit millions,” up-front, but could be worth up to nearly $200 million in milestone payments. That makes Pervasis the third nine-figure biotech acquisition by Shire in less than a year. The company says the deal complements is May, 2011 acquisition of Advanced BioHealing, a Connecticut biotech. That deal was billed at up to $750 million. In March, Shire announced the acquisition of FerroKin BioSciences of California for up to $350 million.

Ireland-based Shire has its Human Genetic Therapies business presence in Lexington, Mass.

Pervasis had raised at least $10 million in venture capital financing from a trio of Massachusetts VC firms: Flagship Ventures, Highland Capital Partners and Polaris Venture Partners are all investors.

According to Shire’s news release, the Pervasis acquisition also establishes a relationship between the Irish biopharmaceutical company and Elazer Edelman, a professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard Medical School, and a cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.